By City AM reporter Councils should be given more free rein to raise local taxes to shore up ailing finances and then “suffer the consequences” at the ballot box, MPs have heard. Ministers were questioned about giving more flexibility for councils to hike taxes, as MPs debated the £64bn funding package for local councils for next year. Councils usually have to hold a referendum to increase local rates beyond a limit imposed by the Government, currently set at a five per cent rise. Local councils, including those run by Tory administrations, have voiced their disappointment with next year’s set…